BAGUIO CITY-- The Police Regional Office in the Cordillera Administrative Region (PROCOR) has formed a special investigation task group (SITG) to look into the shooting and wounding of a consultant of a non-government organization (NGO) last August 6, an official said on Friday.
Police Maj. Carolina Lacuata, PROCOR public information office chief, said they have created the SITG to probe the shooting of Brandon Lee, the consultant of the Ifugao Peasant Movement.
“Their order is to conduct an in-depth investigation for the immediate identification of the perpetrator or perpetrators and to determine the motive of the shooting,” Lacuata said.
Lee, an American-Chinese national with an Ifugao wife, was shot in front of their residence in Sitio Dugong, Barangay Tungngod, Lagawe, Ifugao around 5:40 p.m. on August 6. He was rushed to the Ifugao General Hospital Clinic in Natuwolan, Lagawe for medical treatment.Lee sustained a gunshot wound on his face and another on his back area.
Lacuata said the victim is still in the Intensive Care Unit (Unit) following the surgery in the early evening of Thursday.
PROCOR Director, Brig. Gen. Israel Ephraim Dickson appealed to the public, especially those who have any knowledge about the incident, to cooperate with authorities for the speedy solution of the case.
“While we are conducting an extensive investigation, we also request the assistance of the public to help us by giving relevant and timely information,” Dickson said immediately following the shooting.
Meanwhile, Maj. Noriel Tayaban, of the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said they have been working with Lee and the IPM in delivering various programs of the government and the NGO to the people in far-flung communities in Ifugao.
Tayaban also belied the accusation of the Bayan Muna and Akbayan, which allegedly linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), that the military is the one behind Lee's shooting.
"The intention of 5ID and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) is to express their trust that armed struggle is not really the antidote in the attainment of peace and development,” Tayaban said in a press statement.
In the same statement, 5ID commander, Maj. Gen. Pablo Lorenzo said these organizations identified with the communist movement should not be quick to point fingers at the military as responsible for the attack on Lee.
“As regard to the propaganda issue wherein the AFP is behind the alleged shooting incident, this is devoid of logic and factual basis as this is not in the best interest of the government and AFP. Mr. Renato Reyes and his allied front organizations that were mentioned by no other than Joma Sison (CPP-NPA-NDF founder), should not be very quick to point fingers as we are all earnestly digging into the bottom of this dastardly act based on evidence considering all the angles and not on malice and vested interest," he said.
"His propensity for propaganda to serve the ends of the CPP-NPA-NDF and discredit the government and the AFP betrays his evident bias on the issue at hand. The 5ID and the AFP have its mandates to strictly impose and observed human rights, international humanitarian law, Rule of Law and Rules of Engagement in the performance of their duties in protecting the people within the area of responsibility,” he added.
Lorenzo said the CPP-NPA-NDF's front organizations are responsible for the red-tagging on Lee to discredit the military.
"The 'red-tagging' didn't come from the AFP. It was Joma Sison himself who enumerated the organizations that are part of, allied with and affiliated with the CPP-NPA-NDF,” he said.
“It cannot also be discounted that the CPP-NPA-NDF is at the back of the shooting incident then attribute it to the military to incite the people of Ifugao. They have killed mercilessly thousands of their own cadres, red fighters, and supporters for the past 50 years. This could be just one of those sacrificial purges on the altar of a discredited and irrelevant communist movement,” Lorenzo added.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1077428
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.